Green December Day 24 - Black Plastic

I’ve stopped… Throwing away black plastic containers

Many people don’t know that black plastics are not recyclable in many cities, including Toronto (despite the recycling symbol on them).

I generally try to avoid buying or using things with black plastic but unfortunately, I still give into those pre-made roasted chickens and take out chinese or thai food every once in a while - both of which often come with black plastic.

If stuck with black plastic food containers, it’s best to hang onto them and reuse them as long as they will allow you to and then put them in the garbage.

Some companies like Balzac’s and Pai have changed their packaging to give up the non-recyclable plastic which is great, but there are many others out there still using the same suppliers.

Why

Black plastic cannot be dyed to be turned into something else so it’s not versatile enough to be re-sold once it has been recycled which means there is less demand for it and in turn, less profit to the recycling plants. In addition, recycling plants are unable to sort the black plastics out (because the conveyor belts are typically black) which leaves the recycling facilities to deal with the contamination.

There are a lot of questions to be asked about black plastics but for now, let’s try to prolong the life of them and reduce contamination or use of them all together.